Note: Background noise, hiss, and low levels as on original tapes. Begins and ends abruptly.
Description: TAPE 1: Side A description: Silence [00:00]; Sonny Terry in Finian's Rainbow [00:09]; Goes into business with Horace Holmes, H & M Studios, Atomic Records [02:00]; Joins Alert Records, BM Studios [05:20]; Recording on Savoy Records [12:40]; Home of the Blues studio, teaching the blues [13:40]; Alert Records and blues scene in Harlem and Brooklyn [22:30]; Discovers Erskine Hawkins in sanatorium, forms band [27:00]; Joins Jack Dupree, first electric guitar [27:50]; Recording on Alert Records and Savoy Records [31:08]; Playing clubs in Brooklyn, Jim White's Virginia Tavern [32:57]; House parties in Brooklyn, his radio show on WNYC [37:00]; Jackie Robinson and the origins of the song, "Baseball boogie" [37:00]; Folk music scene, why he didn't switch to electric guitar [45:40]
Side B description: Silence [00:00]; Blues as folk music, multi-cultural hootenannies [00:07]; Blues at midnight in the village [02:04]; Stringline Singers and union halls [02:45]; Woody Guthrie says "nigger" on the radio [03:51]; Burl Ives' "Troubadour Plan" [04:31]; Hanging out with Woody Guthrie [04:53]; Alan Lomax presenting Lead Belly in prison stripes at the Apollo Theater [06:20]; Music sessions at Lead Belly's house [07:36]; First performance in a nightclub at the Village Vanguard [19:22]; Formed trio The Folkmasters [11:05]; The Three Bs, Bob Getty, Bob Harris, and Brownie McGhee, Felton's Lounge [14:18]; Blues scene in Harlem and New York City [17:05]; Leaves Alert Record after royalty check for "Baseball boogie" bounces [19:28]; Meets Ruth McGhee, Mary Hinds [21:50]; Relationship with Ruth McGhee [28:20]; Birth of children, move to 1984 Madison Ave. [32:50]; The Mighty Rockers, The Joot Blockbusters, Bill's Tavern [36:15]; Leaves band after Sonny Terry finishes Finian's Rainbow [38:16]; Amps, association with communists [39:25]; Performing at Bill's Tavern in Elizabeth, New Jersey [42:55]; Meets Langston Hughes [44:05]
TAPE 2: Side A description: Silence [00:00]; Langston Hughes [00:07]; Song, "Pawnshop blues" [02:05]; Cast as Gitfiddle in Langston Hughes' play Simply Heavenly [04:02]; Cast in production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof [05:01]; Family life while working on Broadway [19:00]; First visit with Langston Hughes [20:45]; Audition and cast in Simply Heavenly [24:20]; Meets and becomes friends with Andy Griffith, cast in A Face in the Crowd [27:15]; First time in California, on set of No Time for Sargent [43:20]; Bill Bill Broonzy [45:25]
Side B description: Silence [00:00]; Travels with Big Bill Broonzy to England [00:10]; Travels to France, Germany [09:55]; New York Times interview [11:10]; Second trip to England [13:50]; Move to California, performing at the Ash Grove, Idyllwild [17:05]; Death of Big Bill Broonzy [22:34]; Travels with Sonny Terry to India on State Dept. trip [23:12]; TB blues, Harry Belafonte's band [27:05]; Trip to the far east for State Dept. [28:25]; Gerde's Folk City [32:05]; Move to California in 1961 [33:30]; Touring with Harry Belafonte [35:30]; Signs with Agency for the Performing Arts (APA) [45:14]; Trip to Australia [47:45]
Related Content:
Interview with Brownie McGhee [Tape #001]Interview with Brownie McGhee [Tape #002]Interview with Brownie McGhee [Tape #003]Interview with Brownie McGhee [Tape #004]Interview with Brownie McGhee [Tape #006 & 007]Interview with Brownie McGhee [Tapes #008]Interview with Brownie McGhee [Tapes #010 & 011]Interview with Brownie McGhee [Tape #012]Interview with Brownie McGhee [Tape #017]Interview with Brownie McGhee [Tape #019 & 021]Interview with Brownie McGhee [Tape #022, 023, & 024]Collection Guide:
Brownie McGhee PapersRights: Copyrighted. Rights are owned by the African American Museum & Library at Oakland. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the Copyright Holder. In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Digitized by the
California Audiovisual Preservation Project (CAVPP).
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11
stream_only 
California Revealed 
American Libraries 
